he took the town of Monterey, and sent a dispatch to Fremont. The latter came to him in al! speed, at the head of his mounted force. Going immediately on board the commodore's vessel, an explanation took place. The commodore learnt with astonishment that Fremont had no orders from his government to commence hostilities-that he acted entirely on his own responsibility. This left the commodore without authority for having taken Monterey; for still at this time, the commencement of the war with Mexico was unknown. Uneasiness came upon the commodore. He remembered the fate of Captain Jones in making the mistake of seizing the town once before in time of peace. He resolved to return to the United States, which he did-turning over the command of the squadron to Commodore Stockton, who had arrived on the 15th. The next day (16th) Admiral Seymour arrived; his flagship, the Collingwood, of 80 guns, and his squadron the largest British fleet ever seen in the Pacific. To his astonishment he beheld the American flag flying over Monterey, the American squadron in its harbor, and Fremont's mounted riflemen encamped over the town. His mission was at an end. The prize had escaped him. He attempted ncthing further, and Fremont and Stockton rapidly pressed the conquest of California to its conclusion. The subsequent military events can be traced by any history; they were the natural sequence of the great measure conceived and executed by Fremont before any squadron had arrived upon the coast, before he knew of any war with Mexico, and without any authority from his government, except the equivocal and enigmatical visit of Mr. Gillespie. Before the junction of Mr. Fremont with Commodores Sloat and Stockton, his operations had been carried on under the flag of Independence-the Bear Flag, as it was called-the device of the bear being adopted on account of the courageous qualities of that animal (the white bear), which never gives the road to men-which attacks any number-and fights to the last with increasing ferocity, with amazing strength of muscle, and with an incredible tenacity of the vital principle-never more DALLAS.DEL FREMONT'S FLUNG WITH BEFORE formidable and dangerous than when mortally wounded. The Independents took the device of this bear for their flag, and established the independence of California under it: and in joining the United States forces, hauled down this flag and hoisted the flag of the United States. And the fate of California would have been the same whether the United States squadrons had arrived or not, and whether the Mexican war had happened or not. California was in a revolutionary state, already divided from Mexico politically, as it had always been geographically. The last governor-general from Mexico, Don Michel Toreno, had been resisted, fought, captured and shipped back to Mexico, with his 300 cut-throat soldiers. An insurgent government was in operation, determined to be free of Mexico, sensible of inability to stand alone, and looking, part to the United States, part to Great Britain for the support which they needed. All the American settlers were for the United States protection and joined Fremont. The leading Californians were also joining him. His conciliatory course drew them rapidly to him. The Picos who were the leading men of the revolt (Don Pio, Don Andres, and Don Jesus,) became his friends. California, became independent of Mexico by the revolt of the Picos, and independent of them by the revolt of the American settlers, had its destiny to fulfill-which was, to be handed over to the United States. So that its incorporation with the American Republic was equally sure in any and every event." The following incident illustrates the conciliatory policy of Col. Fremont, towards the Picos, which Col. Benton refers to in the last preceding paragraph, as well as the sagacity and judgment-to say nothing of the generosity with which he discharged his duties as an officer during this critical period. One of the Picos, the brother of the governor of California, had been dismissed by Fremont on parole, and was recaptured in the act of breaking it. He was heading an insurrection which might have proved fatal to the American army; and the American soldiers clamored for his head. Pico was brought before Fremont, identified, tried by a court martial, and condemned to death. Through the whole examination and the delivery of the sentence, he remained cool and composed, and received his last sentence with true Castilian dignity. The hour of twelve was fixed for the execu tion. About an hour before, an unusual noise was heard without, and before one had time to ascertain its cause, a company of ladies and children rushed into the room to which the colonel had retired, threw themselves on their knees, and with the eloquence which only such an emergency could inspire, begged that the husband and father might be spared. The stern officer who was himself both a husband and a father, and whose thoughts were suddenly hurried back over the wilderness, and the mountain, to their distant homes in the East, was unprepared for this appeal, and surrendered to the impulses of humanity without resistance. Raising the broken hearted mother, he exclaimed, but with choaking utterance, "he is pardoned." He would have turned to escape the grateful blessings which were invoked upon his head, and from witnessing the tears of joy which followed the tears of despair, from their now delighted eyes, but they would not permit it. As the shortest and fittest way of closing the trying scene, Col. Fremont sent for the prisoner to receive his pardon, in the presence of his family. When Pico entered the room, the countenances of all present told him of his good fortune, and when it was confirmed by the word of the Colonel, he was for a moment speechless. He had |